Bambusa tulda
Bambusa tulda Roxb., Hort. Bengal., 1814: 25; Fl. Ind. ii, 1832: 193.
Thai names: ไผ่บงดำ (phai bong dam) (Mae Hong Son); บอง (bong) (Shan: Northern); ไผ่บง (phai bong) (Nong Khai); ไผ่บงป่า (phai bong pa) (Northern); ไผ่หางช้าง (phai hang chang) (Kanchanaburi); ว่าขึ (wa-khue) (Karen: Kanchanaburi); ว่าซึ (wa-sue) (Karen: Mae Hong Son); ว่าสี (wa-si) (Karen: Kamphaeng Phet); แวโชวะ (wae-cho-wa) (Karen: Chiang Mai). — T. Smitinand, 2001 [#1003]; BKF [#1368].
Chinese name: 俯竹 (fu zhu).
English names: Bengal Bamboo, Indian Timber Bamboo.
Distribution: THAILAND (North, North-East, West), wild, at 100–1,500 m altitude, common in the deciduous forest; often cultivated. — MYANMAR. — BANGLADESH. — INDIA (North, East, North-East). — BHUTAN. — NEPAL. — CHINA (South). — VIETNAM. — N. Bystriakova & al., Bamboo Biodiversity, 2003: map 16 [#1342].
Culm size: Height 14 m, diameter 7–8 cm.
Descriptions:
(1) "This species is an evergreen or deciduous, tufted, gregarious bamboo. Culms usually 7-23 m high and 5-10 cm in diameter, glabrous, green when young, gray-green on maturity, sometimes streaked with yellow, almost unbranched below; nodes slightly thickened, lower ones have fibrous roots; internodes 40-70 cm long, white-scurfy when young, with white ring below the nodes, thin-walled. Culm-sheaths ca. 15-25 cm long and broad, attenuate upwards and rounded or truncate at top, deciduous, adaxial surface smooth and often with whitish powder, abaxial surface sometimes covered with appressed brown hairs; blade broadly triangular, reniform or cordate, cuspidate, erect, hairy within; ligule continuous with the sheath top, narrow, entire; auricles 2, unequal, larger one continuous with the blade and rounded with ciliate margin. Leaves 12-25 cm long and 2-4 cm broad linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, except for the scabrous veins, glabrous above, glaucescent and puberulous beneath, apex acuminate, base obliquely rounded into a short 2.5 mm long hairy petiole; leaf-sheath striate, glabrous; ligule very small; auricles rounded, fringed with long white hairs. … [flowers and seeds described]." — K. K. Seethalakshmi & al., Bamboos of India, 1998: p. 79 [#1062].
(2) "An evergreen or deciduous, tufted, sympodial bamboo. Culm (7–)16–23(–28) m tall, diameter at breast height (5–)10(–19) cm, wall thickness at breast height 1–2.5 cm, glabrous, green to grey-green or streaked with yellow; internodes 40–70 cm long, white-scurfy when young, with white ring below the nodes; nodes not or slightly swollen, lower ones with aerial roots. Branches developing from all nodes, numerous, usually 3 larger ones at each node, at lowest nodes slender, horizontal and almost leafless. Culm sheath 15–25 cm, coriaceous, deciduous, often bearing appressed brown hairs on abaxial surface; blade broadly triangular, cuspidate, coriaceous, erect, minutely retrorse-hispid inside; ligule narrow, entire, minutely ciliolate; auricles unequal, continuous with the blade (larger one) or sinuately separated, margins ciliate. Young shoots green with yellow stripes. Leaf blade lanceolate to oblong, 15–25 cm × 2–4 cm, glaucescent and puberulous beneath, glabrous above except for the scabrous veins; sheath striate, glabrous; ligule very small; auricles fringed with long white hairs. … [flowers and seeds described]." — P. C. M. Jansen & S. Duriyaprapan in S. Dransfield & E. A. Widjaja (eds.), Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 69-72, fig. [#1226].
(3) "Culms 17·7–21·3 m high, usually straight, bright to dark green (Fig. 2B), occasionally with vertical yellow striations (Fig. 2C), 50·0–88·0 mm in diameter; ratio of cavity diameter to culm diameter 0·28–0·4; internodes rarely swollen; nodes usually swollen with sheath scars and whitish rings. Culm-sheaths (modified leaves protecting young culms) with notably different sizes at different culm heights; adaxial surface glabrous; abaxial surface covered with profuse, black hairs (Fig. 2D); ratio of total length to breadth at the base 1·0–1·4; blade straight, ovate; ratio of total length to blade length 2·7–3·7; auricles conspicuous,continuous with blade, unequal, fringed; ligule with serrate margin. … [flowers described]." — S. Bhattacharya & al., Annals of Botany 98, 2006: 529-535 [#1160].
(4) A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 20 [#1260].
(5) Flora of China [#1303]. (6) Kew GrassBase [#1335].
Images: Line drawing in Flora of China [#1303]. Line drawing (culm sheath) and photos (flowers, culms, culm sheath) in S. Bhattacharya & al., 2006 [#1160]. Photos in AsianFlora (culms, shoots, culm sheaths) [#1332]; EarthCare (culms, shoot); A. J. C. Bose, Bamboos (brochure), IBG Howrah, Kolkata, 2013: p. 20 fig. A-E (culms, branches, young shoot, nodes, culm-leaf) [#1260].
Characteristics (based on S. Bhattacharya & al., 2006): Culms 17–21 m tall, usually straight; culm internodes bright to dark green, occasionally with yellow striations on low-culm, 5–8.8 cm in diameter, very thick-walled; nodes often slightly prominent, with whitish ring below sheath scar; culm sheaths covered with profuse, black hairs [brown in the photograph]; sheath blade erect; sheath auricles conspicuous, continuous with the blade, unequal, fringed; sheath ligule with a serrate margin.
Uses: Culms for construction and paper pulp, fans, furniture, basketry, mats, window blinds, fishing rods, flutes; young shoots for pickled bamboo; plants for screening.
Flowering cycle: 25–40 years [#1226]; 30–60 years [#1302]; 48 years [#1160, #1320].
Seed weight: 140-150 Bambusa tulda seeds weigh ≈10 g; cf. Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 7, Bamboos, 1995: p. 69-72 [#1226]. 20,000–25,000 seeds/kg → ≈20–25 seeds/g [#1302].
Seed viability: About 1 month for genuine Bambusa tulda seeds.
Comments:
(1) Culm size of Thai plants less tall, height 5–10 m, diameter 5–8 cm.
(2) "Often misidentified as Bambusa nutans subsp. cupulata (B. teres in this account), B. tulda is distinguished by its smaller, more erect auricles, brown rather than black culm sheath hairs, persistent, uncupped culm sheath blade, and shorter, thicker walled culms with stripes on the basal internodes. It was treated as B. nutans Munro in FRPS [Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae (Flora of China project)] (9(1): 78. 1996)." (Flora of China [#1303]).
(3) Gregarious flowering of Bambusa tulda in 2008 was recorded from North-East India (Indian Forester), and in 2009 from Laos (Mr. Phut, pers. comm., 9 Aug 2009).
Specimen: BS-0809 [-] (flowering branches and raised seedlings), roadside between Hang Dong and Samoeng, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand, flowering plant, wild; flowering branches coll. by ธ. บ., 5 Feb. 2015, received as "phai bong pa, Bambusa tulda", 6 Feb. 2015.
Seed weight: Unknown.
Seed germination: 6 seeds germinated by the 18th day (test 150208).
Comments: Seeds could not be detected in the spikelets of the flowering branches. Nevertheless, the spikelets were sown, and in fact, some seedlings developed. The seedlings were later given to the collector of the flowering branches. From the material that was available, the species could not be identified. It is certainly a species of Bambusa, but its identification as Bambusa tulda is questionable. Obviously, the seeds are small, so they might not provide the weight of Bambusa tulda seeds, which are relatively heavy. The species is not phai bong wan (Bambusa cf. burmanica), according to the collector ธ. บ.
Bambusa tulda (?) (BS-0809): Flowering branch
Bambusa tulda (?) (BS-0809): Germinating seeds
Specimens: BS-0826 [BBG] (living plants), raised from seeds, collected Mar. 2015, received from FMXG, Yunnan, China, as "Bambusa tulda, 马甲竹 (mǎ jiǎ zhú)", 26 May 2015; BS-0870 [BBG] (seeds), same source, collected Dec. 2015, received 20 Apr. 2016.
Seed weight: 10 g ≈ 250–330 dried spikelets (husk-wrapped seeds).
Seed germination: Out of 25 seeds, the first 4 seeds germinated as early as the 2nd day after sowing, and a further 4 seeds germinated on the 3rd day. By the 10th day, 70% of the seeds had germinated (test 150629).
Comments: The weight of the seeds (BS-0826, BS-0870) received from China is very low, so these seeds might not be Bambusa tulda, which are usually a bit heavier. BS-0826 and BS-0870 may be seeds of Bambusa nutans, Bambusa tuldoides or Bambusa lapidea.
Seeds (BS-0826) received from China as "Bambusa tulda, 马甲竹 (mǎ jiǎ zhú)"
Seeds (BS-0826) received from China as "Bambusa tulda, 马甲竹 (mǎ jiǎ zhú)", germinating, 11th day
Specimen: BS-0352 [-] (culm-leaves), วัดผาลาด, Wat Pha Lat, Doi Suthep – Doi Pui, Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand, wild, coll. D. O., 6 Dec. 2009.
Comments: Although all the characteristics of the culm-leaves matched well with the descriptions of Bambusa tulda, identification as Bambusa nutans could not be ruled out without additional vegetative characteristics of other parts of the plant.